Huldigungsmarsch

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner (ed. William A. Schaefer)

The title of this work translates from the German as Homage March. It bears the designation WWV 97.

General Info

Year: 1864 / 1971
Duration: c. 5:40
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Shawnee Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $60.00 | Score Only (print) - $14.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium I-II
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion (4 players), including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Wagner wrote his “Homage March” as a gift and greeting for the 19-year-old King Ludwig II on the occasion of his birthday on August 25th, 1864. A first performance in the presence of the King did not take place, however, until October 5th in Munich, after a series of circumstances including the sudden death of the leader of the Munich Military Band, Peter Streck (1797-1864) two days before the birthday cancelled the performance. According to one obituary, Streck appears to have suffered a heart attack under pressure of the preparations for the concert, with the copying of parts immediately before the performance, the organization of rehearsals and the journey to Hohenschwangau with a total of 80 musicians, and the enormous musical demands made by Wagner.

The Homage March bears Wagner’s typical signature. He himself writes that he had composed something “from Lohengrin and Tannhäuser and perhaps something new”. The piece is a formal work of genius, unusually lush in sound and instrumentation, but appears on the whole a little too routine. The performance does not seem to have made a lasting impression on Ludwig II either, as no royal comments of any consequence on the work have remained on record. Despite these limitations, the Homage March, as an original work by Wagner for wind ensemble cannot be disregarded in our concert programs.

- Program Note from Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music

Huldigungsmarsch (Homage March) was written for military band in 1864 in Starnberg, Germany. for the 19th birthday of King Ludwig II. The first of Wagner’s three large-scale marches, this work, with its confident melodic lines and rich counterpoint, speaks the language of the mature composer who is certain not only of his technique but of his goal. This march is the composer’s principal contribution in his small legacy of original works written for winds.

- Program Note from Appalachian State University Concert Band concert program, 20 February 2017

Media

Audio CD: North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) - 2015
Audio CD: Northshore Concert Band (Mallory Thompson, conductor) - 2005
Audio CD: U.S. Coast Guard Band (Mallory Thompson, conductor) - 2009
Audio CD: Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor) - 2001

State Ratings

Kansas: V
Louisiana: IV
Virginia: V

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Hillcrest Wind Ensemble (San Diego, Calif.) (Christian Tordahl, conductor) - 25 March 2023
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Orchestra (Mark Scatterday, conductor) - 7 November 2022
California State University Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence F. Stoffel, conductor) – 17 March 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Western/Northwestern Conference, Tacoma, Wash.)
University of Central Arkansas (Conway) Wind Ensemble (Ricky Brooks, conductor) - 18 October 2021
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor) – 9 November 2018
Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Symphonic Band (Isaiah Odajima, conductor) – 13 September 2018
Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) Symphonic Band (Kelvin Jones, conductor) – 6 March 2017
Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Concert Band (John Stanley Ross, conductor) – 20 February 2017
The Hartt Wind Ensemble (West Hartford, Conn.) (James Edward Jackson III, conductor) – 10 December 2016
Los Angeles (Calif.) Symphonic Winds (Stephen Piazza, conductor) – 23 October 2016
California State University, Northridge, Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) – 20 October 2016
Merion Concert Band (Bryn Mawr, Penn.) (Nathan P. Snyder, conductor) - 2013
United States Coast Guard Band (New London, Conn.) (Mallory Thompson, conductor) – 16 December 2009 (2009 Midwest Clinic)
Northshore Concert Band (Evanston, Ill.) (Mallory Thompson, conductor) – 16 December 2005 (2005 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Awake (arr. Houseknecht) (1868/1957)
Chor der Junger from "Das Liebesmahl der Apostel" (arr. Pohler)
Die Meistersinger (arr. Milford) (1868/1998)
Die Meistersinger, Excerpts from the Opera (arr. Eric Osterling)
Die Meistersinger Overture (tr. Hindsley) (1868/197-?)
Die Meistersinger, Prelude (arr. Moses-Tobani/H.R. Kent) (1904/1948)
Die Meistersinger Themes (arr. Daehn) (18684/2009)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg (tr. Hindsley) (1868/196-?)
Die Walkure, Act 2, Scene 4 (arr. King)
Elsa's feierlicher Zug zum Münster (tr. Nefs) (1848/2017)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Bourgeois) (1848/1997)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Cailliet) (1848/1938)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (arr. Cherry) (1848/1999/2019)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. See also: Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. Godfrey) (1869/1906)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. O'Neill) (1869/1930)
Evening Star (arr. Barnard) (1845/1927)
Festmusik (arr. Seifert-Kressbronn) (1843-1982)
Fest Marsch from "Tannhäuser" (tr. Rumbelow) (1845/1997)
The Flying Dutchman (tr. Hindsley) (1843/197-?)
Flying Dutchman Overture, The (arr. Godfrey) (1843/1955)
Funeral Music from "The Dusk of the Gods" (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1919)
Gathering of the Armies (arr. Friedman) (1850/1995)
Homage March (ed. Bourgeois)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Reed) (1864/2002)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Schaefer) (1864/1971)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Whitwell) (1864/2015)
Italian Polka (arr Leidzen) (arr. Leidzen) (1941)
Kaisermarsch (tr. Godfrey) (1871/1912)
King Heinrich’s Call (tr. Bourgeois) (1850/1983)
Invocation of Alberich from "Rheingold" (arr. Cailliet) (1869/1940)
Liebestod (arr. Shishikura) (1856/2014)
Liebestod (arr. Bainum) (1856/1964)
Lohengrin (arr. Patterson) (1850/2016)
Lohengrin (arr. Tamanini) (1850/2005)
Lohengrin: Introduction to Act III (arr. Drumm) (1850/1937)
March from "Tannhäuser" (arr. Lake) (1926)
March on, America
Nibelungen March (arr. Stretton) (c.1874/1909)
Overture to Rienzi (arr. Grabel) (1842/1933)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Geese) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser) (1845/)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser; ed. Rapp) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Reed) (1845/1991)
Prelude to Act I of "Die Meistersinger" (trans. Kreines) (1862/2012)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengren" (tr. Hindsley) (1850)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (tr. Brand) (1850/2001)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (arr. McAlister and Reed) (1850/2006)
Prelude to Parsifal (tr. Bourgeois) (1882/2016)
Procession of the Knights of the Holy Grail from "Parsifal" (arr. Houseknecht) (1964)
Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson) (1846-48/1997)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Patterson)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Laurendeau) (1870/1908)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Longwood) (1870/2000)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Hernandez) (1870)
Rienzi Overture (arr. Meyrelles) (1842/1892)
The Ring (arr. Higgins) (1848-1874/2020)
Selections from Act III of "Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg" (arr. Hanna) (1868/2015)
Seigfried Fantasie (arr. Seidel) (1876/1893)
Siegfried Idyll (1870)
Siegfried's Funeral March (tr. Tanick) (1876/)
Siegfried's Funeral March from "Gotterdammerung" (tr. Bourgeois)
Siegfried's Funeral Music (arr. Whear) (1876/1966)
Tannhäuser (arr. Lake) (1845/1926)
Tannhäuser Grand March (tr. McAlister) (1845/2005)
Tannhäuser March (arr. E. Fall) (1845)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Fall) (1845/1936)
Tannhäuser Overture (tr. Safranek) (1845/1913)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Sousa) (1845/)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Winterbottom) (1845/1903)
Tannhäuser Selection (arr. Lake) (1926)
Trauersinfonie (ed. Votta/Boyd) (1844/1924/1994)
Trauersinfonie (tr. Leidzen) (1844/1924/1949)
Tristan und Isolde (tr. Janssen) (1862/2015)
Vorspiel und Liebestod (arr. Godfrey) (1865/1909)
Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music from "Die Walküre" (arr. Lake) (1874/1937)

Resources

Girsberger, Russ. Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Ensemble: Volume 2 L-Z. Meredith Music Publications, 2004, pp. 323.
Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Richard Wagner" Accessed 13 October 2016
Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 619
Wagner, R.; Schaefer, W. [1971]. Huldigungsmarsch [score]. Shawnee Press: Delaware Water Gap, Penn.